This is an excerpt from an essay written by Pat Noel about the explosion in the Dutch Creek No. 1 Mine in Coal Basin on April 15, 1981. The full essay can be found in the late Stan K. Badett’s book “Digging in the Dark,” a copy of which was recently brought into The Sopris […]
Works in Progress
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Works in Progress
A dog’s storyBy Tom MercerCarbondale-ish It was a rainy August morning when Alan first heard the scratching on his front door. Initially, Alan simply ignored the sound, assuming it was a tree branch that had broken off of the tree in his front yard. But for a half-hour the sound persisted, so Alan stood up […]
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A GOOD BYE-LINE
To: Raleigh BurleighFrom: JB The Sun is settingOn our editor, Raleigh.And he’s not just leavingTo go get a tamale. He’s leaving our town,And The Sopris Sun,To explore what’s out there …He’s had such a great run! The Sun won’t shine nearly as bright,Without you as our chief;It just doesn’t seem right.It’s been several yearsWith you […]
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Works in Progress
There will come a timeBy Nancy Bo FloodFour Mile When our grandchildren will sit In their eighth-grade social science class And yawn. So today we must tell them our story That once there was a time When we nearly lost this democracy. Who saved it? You.
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Valley Strong
By Sophia Jackson Raging Grannies of Carbondale T he Raging Grannies of Carbondale, a local chapter of a nationwide movement that protests through music, sang an original song to the tune of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” during the Feb. 5 Garfield County Planning Commission hearing on the Harvest Village (formerly Harvest Roaring […]
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Works in Progress
I’sBy Daniel SpillerGlenwood Springs I is blue of the mundane what a brushstroke wouldn’t paint. I is wanting to be great only for my father’s sake. I is trying for words that won’t leave my brain. I is incomplete an easel ridden portrait.
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Works in Progress
Soul Glimmers: Crossing Borders with the HeartMaira HernándezGlenwood Springs This poem has been translated from Spanish. I arrived in a strange place,with streets that spokeanother language,with faces that did not recognize my story,and with a sky largerthan any dreamI had ever had. Loneliness wrapped its armstightly around me,fear bit into every step,and the cold of […]
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Works in Progress
For My Senior Valentine By Deborah Holt WilliamsGlenwood Springs So many ways to say “I love you” now that we’re old and grey. Will you help me find my glasses? Did you take your pills today? We go to appointments together. Stay with me forever, please. Got your hearing aids? “My WHAT?” Hey look! I […]
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All Lives Living
By Roaring Fork Senior Living residentsGlenwood Springs Noticing is inspiring.Perhaps it’s only inspiringwhen you’re really noticingall lives living. Mt. Sopris with the sun shining downGiving alpenglow The Roaring Fork River is pretty to look atAmazing to see the littleice floes White House Pizza specialties on MondaysAre very good People are awake, and it’s good […]
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Works in Progress – Jan. 29, 2026
Cookie SheetBy Deborah Holt WilliamsGlenwood Springs The day was cold, I thought I’d bake. Not a pie, not a cake, just a little something sweet. Cookies! I pulled out the sheet. The oven was warm, the dough was cold. I realized my sheet’s more than fifty years old! A wedding gift, back in ‘73. Well […]